Compassionate Care

Compassionate Care in Nursing

Confidence & Capability: Built on Science & Practice

A modern, people-first focus to nursing

The knowledge, empathy, and clinical experience you develop throughout your program help define your future as a nurse. You will learn how to deliver effective, safe, and compassionate patient care.

Find Your “Why”

Your Galen education starts with your why—where you want your career to go after graduation. It’s more than what you want to do; it’s how you want to show up beside your patients. At Galen, you learn the what of nursing and the how of compassionate care.

Compassion is a dynamic skill, a kind of muscle, not just a static character trait. You can train to be more compassionate. Studying nursing at Galen means learning the theory and scientific evidence behind clinical best practices. One of these evidence-based best practices is compassionate care, so at Galen you develop your capacity to provide compassion-led care.

A New Model for Care: iCare Compassionately

Think of Galen’s iCare Compassionately model as your roadmap to compassionate care in clinical settings. This model combines nursing, psychological, and sociological concepts and includes these fundamental values:

Inclusivity: You accept yourself and others with an open mind and positive attitude, free from judgment or criticism.
Character: You model integrity by demonstrating ethical behaviors towards yourself and others.
Accountability: You own your knowledge, abilities, actions, and behaviors.
Respect: You intentionally consider another person’s interests and well-being.
Excellence: You combine your knowledge, skills, and attitudes to demonstrate high quality, compassionate, and authentic care to all people.
Compassion: You harness this mental skill to recognize the feelings and emotions of yourself and others, which helps you to respond authentically.

Why Care About iCare?

You learn to connect with your patient in less than one minute. As you listen to them, they are comforted by feeling heard. Listening uncovers patient concerns and specific needs, allowing you an opportunity to do your best to reduce suffering.

Intuitively, compassionate care is just the right thing to do. It is also essential for delivering high-quality care which is shown to improve patient outcomes. As your patients experience these benefits, they feel more comfortable and trusting in your care.

Collaborating with your peers throughout your program at Galen, you learn to provide patient-centered care. In addition, growing evidence shows a nurse’s well-being relates to the quality of care they provide. Giving yourself compassion and routinely practicing self-care helps you to be your best self, not only for you but for your patients, as well.

By the time you complete your program, you’re knowledgeable and prepared to thrive as a nurse.

Compassionate care is a shared focus for Galen’s students, faculty, staff, and leadership. We infuse the iCare Compassionately principles into each one of your classes. Every Galen employee takes part in the Compassionate Care model training.

Every course—nursing, science, and the broader general education classes—prepares you to be a confident, capable, and caring nurse.

Imagine a future where every patient is cared for by a compassionate nurse. You bring the world one nurse closer to this possibility.